Poetry Analysis
TPCASTT
You will need colored pencils for this.
Title: Ponder the title before reading the poem. What do you expect the poem is going to be about? What connotations do the words
convey?
Paraphrase: Translate the poem into your own words – the literal meaning. (yes this means you rewrite the poem into your own
words.)
Connotation: Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal. Follow the following steps.
Diction:
Step 1: read through the poem and underline key words, and words you do not understand.
Step 2: Now take those words and make a 3 column chart. Your underlined words down the right side of
your paper in the first column. The title of your second column will be DENOTATION (the dictionary
meaning) and the title of the third column will be CONNOTATION (the emotional associations of a word,
both positive and negative)
Choose different colors to underline the following in your poem
Simile: comparison using like or as (My love is like the sun)
Metaphor: implied comparison (My love is a rose)
Personification: attributing human characteristics to something that isn’t human. (The wind moaned and
wailed all night)
Symbolism: an object with meaning beyond itself. (The flag is symbolic of patriotism)
Point of view: First person, third person limited omniscient, third person omniscient.
Alliteration: practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound: (The
twisting trout twinkled below)
Allusion: reference to a mythological, literal, or historical person, place or thing. (He met his Waterloo)
Antithesis: involves a direct contrast of structurally parallel word groupings for purpose of contrast. (sink
or swim)
Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in a series of words.
Consonance: repetition of consonant sound within a series of words.
Onomatopoeia: use of words in which resemble the sounds they describe. (hiss, buzz, bang)
Attitude:
Observe the speaker’s and the poet’s attitude/tone. Underline key lines that show the attitude of the poem and
indicates the attitude. You can have more than one attitude in a poem.
Angry
urgent
sympathetic
proud
irreverent
Sad
complimentary
dreamy
nostalgic
allusive
sentimental
tired
giddy
hollow
mocking
sweet
shocking
afraid
childish
sarcastic
Frivolous
silly
detached
humorous
vibrant
Sharp
joking
contemptuous
dramatic
benevolent
cold
condescending
restrained
zealous
seductive
fanciful
bitter
provocative
joyful
candid
vexed
somber
happy
peaceful
pitiful
audacious
boring
confused
horrific
didactic
upset
poignant
apologetic
objective
Shifts: Note shifts in speakers and in attitudes, changing feelings.
Look for the following:
Key words: but, yet, however, although
Punctuation: dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis
Stanza division
Changes in line or stanza length or both
Irony: sometimes irony hides shifts
Effect of structure on meaning
Changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning
Changes in diction (slang to formal)
Title: Examine the title again on an interpretive level.
Theme: Determine what the poet is saying. The human experience, motivation, or condition suggested by
the poem.